Community leaders ready to innovate

Window open for action on preschool in Springfield

May 5, 2013

Addison Williams, 5, takes a kindergarten screening test at the former Doling school. Superintendent Norm Ridder said children who come to school with the skills to learn hit the ground running. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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Every Child — Ready to Learn

A joint project of KY3 and the Springfield News-Leader to help the community understand the need for improved early childhood education in the Ozarks. Part 1 (April 21-23): The need for better preschool programs Part 2 (April 28-30): A look at how other communities are putting their children to the front of the class. Part 3 — Today: What community leaders here believe needs to be done to help our children be Ready to Learn Monday: Missouri’s history with kindergarten may offer road map.

Town hall meeting

The three-week series called Ready to Learn, a partnership between the News-Leader and KY3, will conclude Wednesday with a town hall meeting. What: The forum, hosted by KY3, will include local parents, educators and community leaders discussing the issues. Where: The community room at the KY3 studios, 999 W. Sunshine St. When: From 9:10 to 10 p.m. Wednesday. How to participate: Tune in. The forum will be broadcast live starting at 9:10 p.m. on The Ozarks CW. For more information: Call KY3 at 268-3299.

Want to get involved?

Todd and Betty Parnell, co-chairs of the Every Child Initiative, said the effort is in the organizational stage. By summer, the group plans to have a website or email established so community members who want to play a role — as part of the advisory committee or as a volunteer — will have an opportunity to get involved.

A “Springfield way” for preschool

In Good Community meetings last fall discussing early childhood education, a series of “consensus points” emerged about the critical elements of any expanded local preschool initiative: • Voluntary participation • Universal access • Partnership between existing and new private, public and faith-based providers, as well as the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce • All partners involved in community-driven planning process • Affordable • Sustainable funding source • Developed and managed locally • Evaluated based on meeting the overarching goal — more children with the social, emotional and academic skills to be ready to learn in kindergarten — and not prescriptive measures such as building standards, teacher qualifications, etc.

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No time to waste.

That phrase came up over and over as Springfield community leaders described the urgency they feel about helping young children prepare for success in school and life.

They kept pointing to the confluence of problems — growing poverty, lack of school readiness and funding cuts to early childhood programs — as fueling the quest to find local solutions.

“There seems to be this new awareness and conviction that something needs to happen,” said Brian Fogle, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. “... We can’t wait anymore.”

A growing chorus of community leaders — and groups such as the Mayor’s Commission for Children, the Good Community think tank and the Every Child Initiative — are coalescing around the idea of improving access to high quality early childhood education as a way to improve school readiness in young children most likely to fall through the cracks.

Fogle likened the growing momentum around preschool to what happened with downtown revitalization. He said that while a group of dedicated folks had worked on the effort for years, there was little progress until the idea “took root” and support reached a tipping point.

“All of a sudden a window of opportunity opened up and we took advantage of it,” Fogle said. “I see a similar type of opportunity and a window here.”

State education officials said Springfield — home of the state’s largest fully accredited district — has an opportunity to come up with a unique solution to help its children.

Peter Herschend, president of the state Board of Education, said that despite a strong conservative base, the majority of southwest Missouri is “unique in its aggressive posture” on supporting early childhood education.

He applauds Springfield community leaders for searching for solutions.

“They realized that proper early education leads to better success. They’re doing something about it,” said Herschend, pointing to the quality programs that already exist. “They have the financial resources and the educational drive to make things happen.”

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Opportunity to lead

State education officials estimate that only about 60 percent of 4-year-olds across the state access a quality preschool setting.

Of the 2,200 preschool-age children in Springfield, local officials estimate that 400 to 500 children are caught “in between” — they can’t find a spot in the public preschool programs that serve the neediest kids and their families lack the money or transportation to access quality private providers.

The following factors are also adding to the urgency:

• One out of every five Springfield children enters kindergarten without the social, emotional and basic academic skills to be successful, according to a 2010 Kindergarten Readiness report by the Mayor’s Commission for Children.

• The poverty rate in Springfield Public Schools is 54.3 percent, up from 39.3 percent just a decade ago. The rate among elementary children — the group most likely to apply for free or reduced school meals — was 61 percent.

• Existing public preschool programs, as well as Parents as Teachers, have been hit by state or federal funding cuts in recent years. That impact has cut staff, curbed service and left more children without early childhood options.

Todd and Betty Parnell, co-chairs of the Every Child Initiative, plan to build on years of groundwork — community focus reports, city strategic plans and national research — to craft a long-range plan with several “strategic imperatives” to improve the plight of young children in this community.

“We are gathering in June to define some major game changing options that we can pursue as a community,” said Todd Parnell, president of Drury University. Following that, input will be sought from the public.

Founding members include Mayor Bob Stephens and top leaders from the United Way of the Ozarks, the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Springfield Public Schools and the CFO. That group grew to become an executive committee and now includes community volunteers and representatives from the Mayor's Commission for Children, Council of Churches of the Ozarks, Greene County Commission and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

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One key objective has already been accomplished. The Initiative secured funding to hire Springfield’s Child Advocate, a paid staff position. Dana Carroll, deputy director of early childhood for CPO, will start the new job July 1.

Of the momentum and community interest, Todd Parnell said, “We can’t let this slip away.”

He said while increased access to high quality preschool will be part of the conversation, the Initiative plans to explore a comprehensive approach to improving the future for young children. That will include early literacy, parenting skills and other options.

“There is a sense of urgency, and getting children ready to learn will be an important part of our deliberation,” he said.

Across the state, communities have relied heavily on state and federal funding and programs to help prepare their young children for success in school. In a few spots, districts have found ways to expand preschool programs or partner with others to stretch resources.

Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro said any collaborative effort to expand preschool has to reflect the values of the community where it’s located. That means Springfield’s approach should look different than what Kansas City or Columbia might offer, she said.

“A community that has really come together and determined that this is critical for the future of their children is going to be a showcase for the whole state,” Nicastro said. “Springfield certainly has the opportunity here to be the leader. I think there are some things that could be put in place — and will be put in place if the community is to launch this initiative — that will will serve as a laboratory, if you will, for all of us.”

What's the payoff?

Superintendent Norm Ridder said children who come to school with the skills to learn — whether prepared at home or taught in a public, private or faith-based setting — hit the ground running.

“We’re seeing, at all our schools, the children that have had a good preschool experience are doing very well,” he said.

Emily Journagan, the mother of two young children, works at Drury and serves as a mentor at the Boys & Girls Club. She sees the effect of children who didn’t enter school ready to learn.

“I work in the community a lot and know there’s a need,” she said. “You see the students who are so far behind, and that carries on.

“It affects their self-esteem. They know they are behind and they are frustrated.”

Journagan and her husband both work and enrolled their youngest daughter in a private preschool program this year. In the fall, she will attend kindergarten at Mann Elementary.

“We had financial resources and we had a lot of options,” she said. “There are people in the community that don’t have the options, and that needs to be addressed.”

Mayor Bob Stephens said the community is in the “early stages” of deciding how to do that.

“It took us a number of years to get to this point. It may take us a number of years to get to where we want to go,” he said. “But, we’ve got this started.”